Practice research under changing conditions

The tradition of practice research emerged in critical psychology in Germany and Denmark about twenty-five years ago. It emphasizes the relevance of knowledge - above all knowledge for change - by researching exemplary scopes of possibilities for agents in particular kinds of situations.
A key feature in its emergence and development was a reinvigorated alliance between psychological researchers and practitioners in the pursuit of that goal. This close alliance affected the perspectives of knowledge in the projects and it had advantages and drawbacks on their processes and outcomes.
Practice research in critical psychology is based on a science of the subject – as opposed to the science of control dominating psychology. Of course, projects involve many subjects with diverse perspectives on the issues at hand. Descriptions of practices from subject positions previously considered negligible therefore make other dimensions, issues and possibilities visible. In that sense, practice research projects are interventions in existing regimes of knowledge. Getting below the institutional regimes of knowledge and power into the everyday of research subjects, be they practitioners or clients, proved particularly important in unraveling what is glossed over or reinterpreted beyond recognition. Doing so helps putting psychology back on its feet.
But practice research was developed under other social, political and professional conditions and under other regimes of knowledge than we find today where efficiency and governance are at the center of interest in relation to research. In my paper I shall reflect on the challenges, scopes and agendas for doing practice research today on the background of lessons learned from doing so for twenty-five years.